THE TEAGHERS’ HELPER, Sub # 2 cr oo pl pe? 

Vol. IV. JULY, 1898. No. 12. 


15 2281 - 

t «r 

A TERM'S WORK 


LONGFELLOW 


. S5 

Copy 1 




CHICAGO 

A. FLANAGAN, Publisher 



ANNA L. SITTLER 


The Teachers 


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VOLUME 1. 

Cooke’s Nature Myths and Stories. 

Ensign’s U. S. History Outlines. 

Burton’s Outlines of English Grammar. 

Nelson’s Outlines of Elementary Science. 

Rice’s Outlines in History and Literatuie. 

Nameless Stories Supplementary Reading. 

Study of Hiawatha, Teachers’ Edition. 

Norse Gods and Heroes. 

Castle’s Entertainments, No. 1. 

Introductory Guide to Nature Study. 

Walks and Talks, by Wm. Hawley Smith. 

Helper in School Entertainments. 

VOLUME 2. 

Fables and Facts Stories. 

Cat Tails and Other Tales. 

Three Little Lovers of Nature. 

Castle's Entertainments, No. 2. 

Legends from the Red Man’s Forest. 

Victor in Buzzland, Natural History. 

Taylor’s Literary Work in the Schoolroom 
Stories from American History, Ellis. 

Pritchard’s Choice Dialogues. 

Nature and History Stories. 

Ways, Methods and Devices of 1,000 Prominent Teachers. 
Epochs in American History, Ellis. 

VOLUME 3. 

Scientific Temperence Manual. 

Leading American Industries.—Minerals. 

Lewis’ History Outlines. 

Our Gold Mine.—Sequel to Black Beauty. 

Strike at Shanes “ “ 

History of My Friends, or Home Life with Animals. 
Lives of the Presidents.—Ellis. 

Select Stories.—Bass. 

Our Friends, The Birds. 

The Pied Piper and Other Stories enlarged. 

Talks about Common Things.—McLeod. 

Wallbank’s Outlines and Exercises in English Grammar. 

VOLUME 4. 

Eberhart’s Elements of Entomology. 

Graded Instructions in Drawing. 

Fables and Tales.—Rocheleau. 

Helps in Teaching Little Ones. 

Christmas Gems.—Recitations for Christmas. 

Leading American Industries.—Products of the Soil. 
Early History Series. 

Blocks With Which We Build. Supplementary Reading. 
Pritchard’s Choice Dialogues, No. 2. 

Aunt Martha’s Corner Cupboard. 

Black Beauty. 

A Term’s Work on Longfellow. 


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A TERM’S WORK 


ON 

LONGFELLOW 



ANNA L SUTLER. 


* 





CHICAGO: 

A. FLANAGAN, PUBLISHER. 


TW 


RECEIVED. 





7702 

Copyright, 1898, 

BY 

A. FLANAGAN. 














INTRODUCTION. 


This little outline lays no claim to originality. 

The ideas, as well as the facts, have been glean¬ 
ed from many sources. 

I have found the work helpful in my own school¬ 
room, and hope other teachers may find it so. 

The poems herein given are used by special 
arrangement with Houghton, Mifflin & Co., pub¬ 
lishers of Longfellow’s and Whittier’s works. 



/ 


SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS. 


This work is intended as a substitute for the 
regular language lessons. 

More than one term of such work in a year 
would hardly prove profitable. But for a term it 
will doubtless be found instructive and interesting, 
and an aid in securing thought and neatness. 

It should be used not only as literature work, 
but as a review in language work, punctuation, 
use of capitals, quotation marks, possessive signs, 
etc. 

The aim of the work however, is to cultivate in 
the children an ability to gain thought from their 
reading and an appreciation of good literature as 
well as to act as a refining influence. 

Much dictation work will always be found help¬ 
ful in this grade, and it can easily be supplied in 
this work. 

Each pupil should be supplied with a blank- 
book, in which should be copied with pen and ink 
the poems studied. Some of these should be com¬ 
mitted, as also the quotations. 



A term’s work on eongfeeeow. 


The lessons on Longfellow’s life, home, etc., 
should be used first as conversation lessons; later 
they should be written from memory, and copied 
in the blank books. Children will very soon learn 
to take pride in a nicely kept book. 

Great interest may be aroused by supplying 
each child with the small pictures of Longfellow 
and of his home at Cambridge. These may be 
obtained from the publisher of this book for a 
trifle. 

The pictures should be pasted neatly in their 
books in their appropriate places. 

Probably all the work given should not be required 
by all classes in a short term. Some classes would 
need one part of the work, others another part. 

Children enjoy doing nice work, and if they 
each have a nicely filled book to carry home at the 
end of the term, they will feel repaid for all trouble, 
while they have stored up memories whose value 
the future only can tell. A. L. S. 



a term’s work on eongfeeeow. 


9 


LONGFELLOW. 

Full name—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 

Born in Portland, Maine, Feb. 27, 1807, 

Died in Cambridge, Mass., March 24, 1882. 

HIS BOYHOOD. 

His early home was in Portland, Maine. It is 
an old sea-port town. When Longfellow was a boy 
there was an old fort on a hill near the town, from 
which, daily, a gun was fired at sunrise. Beyond 
was a grove of trees called “Deering’s Woods.” 
In his poem u My Lost Youth” he speaks of these 
things as though they were pleasant to remember. 
During the war of 1812 a sea-fight took place, just 
outside Portland harbor, between the American 
ship Enterprise and the English ship Boxer. The 
Americans were victorious but the captains of both 
ships were killed. They were brought to Portland 
and buried side by side. 

When a boy Longfellow enjoyed the sea, the 
sky, the birds and the flowers. He used to speak 
of them as his playmates. When he grew older he 
wrote many beautiful poems about them: 


10 


a term’s work on eongfeeeow. 


Bright visions came to me, 

As lapped in thought I used to lie, 

And gaze into the summer sky, 

Where the sailing clouds went by 
Like ships upon the sea. 

The green trees whispered low and mild, 
It was a sound of joy! 

They were my playmates when a child 
And rocked me in their arms so wild! 
Voices of the Night. 


MY LOST YOUTH. 

Often I think of the beautiful town 
That is seated by the sea, 

Often in thought go up and down 

The pleasant streets of that dear old town, 

And my youth comes back to me. 

And a verse of a Lapland song 

Is haunting my memory still; 

“A boy’s will is the wind’s will, 

And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts. ’ 

I remember the black wharves and the slips 
And the sea-tides tossing free; 

And the Spanish sailors with bearded lips, 

And the beauty and the mystery of the ships, 

And the magic of the sea. 

And the voice of that wayward song 
Is singing and saying still: 

“A boy’s will is the wind’s will, 

And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts. ’ 



a term’s work on eongfeixow. 


11 


I remember the bulwarks by the shore, 

And the fort upon the hill; 

The sunrise gun with its hollow roar, 

The drum-beat repeated o’er and o’er, 

And the bugle wild and shrill. 

And the music of that old song 
Throbs in my memory still; 

“A boy’s will is the wind’s will, 

And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.’ ’ 

I remember the sea-fight far away, 

How it thundered o’er the tide! 

And the dead captains as they lay 

In their graves o’erlooking the tranquil bay, 

Where they in battle died. 

And the sound of that mournful song 
Goes through me like a thrill; 

“A boy’s will is the wind’s will, 

And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts. ’ ’ 

I can see the breezy dome of groves, 

The shadows of Deering’s Woods; 

And the friendships old and the early loves 
Come back with the Sabbath sound, as of doves 
In quiet neighborhoods, 

And the verse of that sweet old song, 

It flutters and murmurs still: 

“A boy’s will is the wind’s will 
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts. ’ ’ 


12 


A term’s WORK ON LONGFELLOW. 


SUGGESTIONS FOR CONVERSATION AND 
COMPOSITION LESSONS. 

What town is meant by “the beautiful town”? 
By what sea is it “seated”? What reason did he 
have for going back to it in thought? What are 
“wharves”? “slips”? “sea-tides”? Why would he 
see Spanish sailors there? 

What are “ bulwarks”? Why should they be 
built there? What is a “ sunrise gun”? Where 
would he hear the drum-beat and the bugle? For 
what are they sounded? 

What is a sea fight? Had Longfellow seen 
one? Where? What had been the result? 

What is a “dome”? Does a tree form a dome? 
Where were Deering’s Woods? Do you think he 
had been happy in this “ beautiful town”? 

LANGUAGE WORK. 

Explain the use of the apostrophe in—boy’s, 
Deering’s, o’er, wind’s, o’erlooking. 

Explain capitals in—Lapland, Woods, Spanish, 
Often (in first line). 

Change the plural names to singular, and the 
singular names to plural.—Memory, wharves, 
verse, youth, beauty, bay, shore, voice. 



A TERM’S WORK ON LONGFELLOW. 


13 


LONGFELLOW’S SCHOOL-LIFE. 

He entered school when three years old. It 
was the custom then for children to begin school 
while very young. 

When he was six years old he brought this 
note to his mother from his teacher.— 

Master Henry Longfellow is one of the best boys we 
have in school. He spells and reads very well. He also 
can add and multiply numbers. His conduct last quarter 
was very correct and amiable. 

June 30, 1813. N. H. Carter. 

Henry Longfellow entered Bowdoin College 
when 14 years old and graduated five years later. 
One of his teachers at that time describes him 
thus:—“He was an attractive youth, with auburn 
locks, clear, fresh, blooming complexion, and, as 
might be presumed, of well-bred manners and bear¬ 
ing.” He afterwards went to Europe three times 
for the purpose of study. He was thoroughly ac¬ 
quainted with twelve different languages. 

A youth was there, of quiet ways, 

A student of old books and days, 

To whom all tongues and lands were known, 
And yet a lover of his own; 

With many a social virtue graced, 

And yet a friend of solitude; 


14 


A term’s WORK ON LONGFELLOW. 


A man of such a genial mood, 

The heart of all things he embraced, 

And yet of such fastidious taste, 

He never found the best too good. 

— Tales of a Wayside Inn. 

Said to be a good description of Longfellow. 


LONGFELLOW’S LIFE-WORK. 

Longfellow spent his entire life after leaving 
college as a teacher of language,—first in his own 
college, Bowdoin, but mostly in Harvard College, 
in Cambridge, Mass. 

The later part of his life he did little or no 
teaching, only overlooked the work of other teach¬ 
ers. 

During the whole of his mature life he was writ¬ 
ing, sometimes prose, but largely poetry. 

He is considered the greatest poet of America. 

Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! 

Sail on, O Union, strong and great! 

Humanity with all its fears, 

With all its hope of future years, 

Is hanging breathless on thy fate! 

Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea; 

Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee, 

Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, 

Our faith, triumphant o’er our fears, 

Are all with thee—are all with thee! 

—Building of the Ship. 



a term’s work on rongferrow. 15 

Whene’er a noble deed is wrought, 

Whene’er is spoken a noble thought, 

Our hearts in glad surprise 
To higher levels rise. 

Honor to those whose work and deeds, 

Thus help us in our daily needs, 

And by their overflow 
Raise us from what is low. 

—Santa Filomena. 

Then stay at home, my heart, and rest, 

The bird is safest in its nest, 

O’er all that flutter their wings and fly 
A hawk is hovering in the sky, 

To stay at home is best. 

— Song. 


THE LONGFELLOW HOUSE. 

The house which Longfellow occupied for near¬ 
ly forty years was built in 1759. The owner left 
America when the Revolutionary War broke out. 
When Washington came to take charge of the 
Colonial army, this house, as the largest in the 
neighborhood, was used for his headquarters. His 
wife, Martha Washington, joined him while here, 
and held many receptions in the stately mansion. 

When Longfellow came to Cambridge in 1836 
the house belonged to a widow, Mrs. Craigie, who 
took lodgers. Longfellow went to see if she would 
lodge him. She told him she never took students. 



16 


a term’s work on eongfekkow 



EONGFEEEOW’S HOME. 



EONGFEEEOW’S STUDY. 

















A TERM’S WORK ON EONGFEEEOW. 


17 


He assured her that although so young, he was a 
professor. She told him that would make a differ¬ 
ence. She gave him the room occupied formerly 
by Washington. 

In 1843 he bought the house, and it was ever 
after his home. 

His study was at the right of the main entrance. 
Many of his beautiful poems were written here. 

The room is still kept as nearly as possible as 
Longfellow left it. 

Once, oh once, within these walls 
One whom memory oft recalls— 

The Father of his Country—dwelt 
And yonder meadows broad and damp 
The fires of the beseiging camp 
Encircled with a burning belt; 

Up and down these echoing stairs 
Heavy with the weight of cares, 

Sounded his majestic tread; 

Yes, within this very room 
Sat he in those hours of gloom, 

Weary both in heart and head. 

— To a Child. 

THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

Under a spreading chestnut tree 
The village smithy stands. 

The smith, a mighty man is he 
With large and sinewy hands, 

And the muscles of his brawny arms 
Are strong as iron bands. 




18 


a term’s work on eongfellow. 


His hair is crisp, and black, and long 
His face is like the tan; 

His brow is wet with honest sweat, 

He earns whate’er he can, 

And looks the whole world in the face, 

For he owes not any man. 

Week in, week out, from morn till night 
You can hear his bellows blow; 

You can hear him swing his heavy sledge, 
With measured beat and slow, 

Like a sexton ringing the village bell 
When the evening sun is low. 

And the children coming home from school 
Look in at the open door, 

They love to see the flaming forge 
And hear the bellows roar, 

And catch the burning sparks that fly 
Like chaff from the threshing-floor. 

He goes on Sunday to the church, 

And sits among his boys; 

He hears the parson pray and preach; 

He hears his daughter’s voice 

Singing in the village choir, 

And it makes his heart rejoice. 

It sounds to him like her mother’s voice 
Singing in Paradise! 

He needs must think of her once more 
How in the grave she lies; 

And with his hard, rough hand he wipes 
A tear out of his eyes. 

Toiling, rejoicing, sorrowing, 

Onward through life he goes; 


a term’s work on eongfeeeow. 


19 


Each morning sees some task begin, 

Each evening sees its close; 

Something attempted, something done, 

Has earned a night’s repose. 

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend, 
For the lesson thou hast taught! 

Thus at the flaming forge of life 
Our fortunes must be wrought; 

Thus on its sounding anvil shaped 
Each burning deed and thought. 


SUGGESTIONS FOR CONVERSATION AND 
COMPOSITION LESSONS. 

Describe a chestnut tree. What is a “smithy”? 
Who is meant by “the smith”? Why should he 
be strong? Is he an honest man? Why do you 
think so? What sentence of three words would 
tell what is told by the third stanza? What is a 
sexton? Do you think he was pleasant with the 
children? What is a “forge”? “the bellows”? 
“threshing-floor”? What makes the sparks fly? 
What does the blacksmith do on Sunday? What 
two people does he hear there? What do you find 
out about his family? What is meant by “Para¬ 
dise”? Does Longfellow think the blacksmith a use¬ 
ful man? Why? For what does he thank the 
blacksmith? What lessons does he learn? What 
is an anvil? 



20 


A TERM’S WORK ON LONGFELLOW. 


LANGUAGE WORK. 

Explain all capitals in stanza 5. Make a list 
of verbs in stanzas 3 and 4. Make a list of nouns 
found in the same stanzas. 

Change plural names to singular, and singular 
names to plural:—boys, children, choir, eyes, man, 
life, tree, forge, sledge. 

LONGFELLOW’S FAMILY. 

His first wife died in Europe soon after they 
were married. 

Later he married again. His second wife was 
burned to death by some burning wax falling on her 
light summer dress (1861). 

He had five children, two sons and three daugh¬ 
ters. He speaks of his daughters in “The Chil¬ 
dren’s Hour,” as,— 

“Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra, 

And Edith with golden hair.” 

His elder son Charles served as a lieutenant in 
the Civil War, and was severely wounded. 

Ernest lives in Cambridge and is an artist. 

Alice and Annie Allegra, oldest and youngest of 
his daughters, have done some writing themselves. 

“Edith with golden hair” is the wife of Richard 
Dana. 



a term’s work ON TONGFETTOW. 


21 


“Maidenhood,” one of Longfellow’s most beauti¬ 
ful poems, is a tribute to Edith. He calls her “a 
smile of God” and “the child of many prayers.” 

The heights by great men reached and kept 
Were not attained by sudden flight, 

But they, while their companions slept 
Were toiling upward in the night. 

Standing on what too long we bore 

With shoulders bent and downcast eyes, 

We may discern, unseen before 
A path to higher destinies. 

— The Ladder St. A ugustine. 

Homeward serenely she walked with God’s benediction 
upon her, 

When she had passed it seemed like the ceasing of exquisite 
music. 

— Evangeline. 


LONGFELLOW’S LOVE FOR CHILDREN. 

He was always fond of children, and has often 
been called the “Children’s Poet.” Though he 
has written almost nothing for children, he has 
written much about them. “ Children,” “ The 
Children’s Hour” and “To a Child” are some well- 
known poems. 

Many children used to come to see him and 
none were ever turned away. 



22 


A TERM’S WORK ON LONGFELLOW. 


A little boy bad been looking through Long¬ 
fellow’s large library. Finally he came to the poet 
and said pityingly, “You haven’t ‘Jack the Giant- 
killer’, have you?” 

Longfellow told him he was sorry to say he 
had not. 

The boy came next day to the study, and press¬ 
ing two cents into Longfellow’s hand, told him he 
could now buy ‘Jack the Giant-killer’ and have a 
copy himself. 


A REPRODUCTION STORY. 

One Christmas a friend of Longfellow was going 
to dine with him. As the gentleman was walking 
toward the house he met a little girl who asked him 
where Longfellow lived. He told her he would 
show her if she would walk along with him. 

When they reached the gate she said, “Do you 
think I can go into the yard?” “O, yes,” he replied, 
“if you will look at the window on the right, you 
will see a white-haired gentleman reading a news¬ 
paper. Well, that will be Mr. Longfellow.” 

When Longfellow’s friend came in, he found 
him seated away from the window. So he said, 
“Do look out of the window and bow to that little 





A TKRM’S WORK ON IvONGFKLLOW. 


23 


girl who wants to see you very much.” “A little 
girl wants to see me? Where is she?” The 
poet went to the door and called her in. He kind¬ 
ly took her hand and asked her name. Then he 
showed her the children’s chair, the old clock on 
the stair, and many other interesting things. 


CHILDREN. 

Come to me, O ye children! 

For I hear you at your play, 

And the questions that perplexed me 
Have vanished quite away. 

Ye open the eastern windows, 

That look toward the sun, 

Where thoughts are singing swallows 
And the brooks of morning run. 

In your hearts are the birds and the sunshine. 

In your thoughts the brooklets flow; 

But in mine is the wind of Autumn 
And the first fall of snow. 

Ah! What would the world be to us 
If the children were no more? 

We should dread the desert behind us 
Worse than the dark before. 

What the leaves are to the forest, 

With the light and air for food, 

Ere their sweet and tender juices 
Have been hardened into wood,— 



24 


A tkrm’s work on longfkllow. 


That to the world are children; 

Through them it feels the glow 
Of a brigher and sunnier climate 
That reaches the trunks below. 

Come to me, O ye children! 

And whisper in my ear 
What the birds and the winds are saying 
In your sunny atmosphere. 

For what are all our contriving, 

And the wisdom of our books, 

When compared with your caresses 
And the gladness of your looks? 

Ye are better than all the ballads 
Which ever were sung or said, 

For ye are living poems 
And all the rest are dead. 


SUGGESTIONS FOR CONVERSATION AND 
COMPOSITION WORK. 

What is Longfellow sometimes called? (The 
Poet of the Children.) Why? Had he any chil¬ 
dren of his own? 

To what season does he compare the children? 
To what season does he say he belongs? 

To what part of a tree does he compare the 
children? 

What part of the tree are older people? What 
do the leaves do for the trunk? Why does he say 
the children are better than ballads? 



A term’s work on eongfellow. 


25 


LANGUAGE WORK. 

Find all the pronouns in stanza 1. Find the 
adjectives in stanza 2. Write the names of all the 
punctuation marks found in the selection. Change 
to the singular form,—children, leaves, swallows, 
caresses, juices, we. 


THE CHILDREN’S ARM-CHAIR. 

The “spreading chestnut tree,” under which the 
“village smithy” stood was not far from Long¬ 
fellow’s home, in Cambridge. 

The smithy disappeared long ago, but the tree 
stood until 18 76, 
when the city officers 
decided to cut it down 
because its branches 
interfered with pass¬ 
ing loads. 

But the wood was 
saved. The children 
ofCambridge brought 
money to their teach¬ 
ers to have an arm¬ 
chair made of the 
wood. On the morn- 









26 


A TERM S WORK ON LONGFELLOW. 


ing of his seventy-second birthday it was put into his 
study. When he returned from breakfast he found 
it there. It pleased him very much. He wrote 
“From my Arm Chair” to thank the children. 

After this the children felt as if the poet belong¬ 
ed to them, and often came to see him. 


DISCRIPTION OF THE CHAIR. 

The wood of the chair is black, having been 
ebonized. The cushions and arms are covered with 
green leather. On different parts of the chair are 
carved horse chestnut leaves, blossoms and burrs. 

Under the cushion is a brass plate, on which 
are the following words:— 

TO 

THE AUTHOR 
OF 

THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH, 

THIS CHAIR MADE FROM THE WOOD OF THE 

spreading chestnut-tree 

IS PRESENTED AS 

AN EXPRESSION OF GRATEFUL REGARD AND VENERATION 

BY 

THE CHILDREN OF CAMBRIDGE 
WHO WITH THEIR FRIENDS JOIN IN BEST WISHES 
AND CONGRATULATIONS 
ON 

THIS ANNIVERSARY 
FEBRUARY 27, 1879. 



a term’s work on eongfeeeow. 


27 


Around the edge of the seat in raised letters are 
the words, — 

“And the children coming home from school 
Look in at the open door, 

And catch the burning sparks that fly 
Like chaff from the threshing-floor.” 


FROM MY ARM-CHAIR. 

To the children of Cambridge, who presented to 
me, on my 72d birthday, Feb. 27, 1879, this chair, 
made from the wood of the spreading chestnut. 

Am I a king that I should call my own, 

This splendid ebone throne? 

Or by what reason, or what right divine, 

Can I proclaim it mine? 

Only perhaps, by right divine of song 
It may to me belong; 

Only because the spreading chestnut tree 
Of old was sung by me. 

Well I remember it in all its prime 
When in the summer time 
The affluent foilage of its branches made 
A cavern of cool shade. 

There, by the blacksmith’s forge, beside the street, 
It’s blossoms white and sweet 
Enticed the bees until it seemed alive, 

And murmured like a hive. 



28 


a term’s work on longfeeeow. 


And when the winds of autumn with a shout 
Tossed its great arms about, 

The shining chestnut, bursting from the sheath, 
Dropped to the ground beneath. 

And now some fragments of its branches bare, 
Shaped as a stately chair 

Have by my hearthstone found a home at last, 
And whisper of the past. 

The Danish king could not in all his pride 
Repel the ocean-tide, 

But seated in this chair, I can in rhyme 
Roll back the tide of Time. 

I see again, as one in vision sees, 

The blossoms and the bees, 

And hear the children’s voices shout and call, 
And the brown chestnuts fall. 

I see the smithy with its fires aglow, 

I hear the bellows roar 

And the shrill hammer on the anvil beat 

The iron, white with heat. 

And thus, dear children, have you made for me 
This day a jubilee, 

And to my more than three-score years and ten, 
Brought back my youth again. 

The heart hath its own memory, like the mind, 
And in it are enshrined 

The precious keepsakes, into which is wrought 
The giver’s loving thought. 

Only your love and your remembrance could 
Give life to this dead wood, 

And make these branches, leafless now so long, 
Blossom again in song. 


A term’s WORK ON LONGFELLOW. 


29 


Let us do our work as well, 

Both the unseen and the seen, 

Make the house where God may dwell 
Beautiful entire and clean, 

Else our lives are incomplete, 

Standing in these walls of time, 

Broken stairways, where the feet 
Stumble as they seek to climb. 

— The Builders. 


SUGGESTIONS FOR CONVERSATION AND 
COMPOSITION WORK. 

Tell the story of the chair. Describe the tree in 
summer. In autumn. To what use is it now put? 
Tell the story of the Danish king (Canute, one 
of the strongest kings during the Danish invasion 
of England, who imagined himself very powerful. 
He had his throne placed on the sea-shore, and com¬ 
manded the tide not to touch it. Of course the 
tide rose and he had to have his throne moved back 
or he would have been drowned). What tide could 
Longfellow roll back? What could he see and 
hear? What is a jubilee? What came back to 
Longfellow? Why does he prize the chair? 



30 


A term’s WORK ON LONGFELLOW. 


Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, 
Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels 

— Evangeline. 


LONGFELLOW’S DEATH. 

On his seventy-fifth birthday, Feb. 27, 1882, 
the children in the schools celebrated his birthday 
by talking of him and reciting his poems. 

All the schools of his own town, and many of 
those all over the country, thus remembered the 
day. 

A few weeks later he was taken seriously ill. 
Everyone in the neighborhood felt anxious. The 
very children said as they passed the gate, “We 
must tread lightly for Mr. Longfellow is very ill.” 
On the 24th of March the bells tolled his death. 

Whittier has beautifully written of this last 
birthday and of Longfellow’s birthday in “The 
Poet and the Children.” 


THE POET AND THE CHILDREN. 

TO H. W. L. 

With a glory of winter sunshine 
O’er his locks of gray, 

In the old historic mansion 
He sat on his last birthday. 




a term’s work on eongfeeeow. 


31 


With his books and his pleasant pictures, 
And his household and his kin, 

While a sound as of myriads singing 
From far and near stole in. 

It came from his own fair city, 

From the prairies’ boundless plain, 
From the Golden Gate of sunset, 

And the cedar woods of Maine. 

And his heart grew warm within him, 
And his moistening eyes grew dim, 

For he knew his country’s children 
Were singing the songs of him. 

The lays of his life’s glad morning, 

The psalms of his evening time, 

Whose echoes shall float forever 
On the winds of every clime. 

All their beautiful consolations, 

Sent forth like birds of cheer, 

Came flocking back to his window 
And sang in the poet’s ear. 

Grateful, but solemn and tender, 

The music rose and fell, 

With a joy akin to sadness 
And a greeting like farewell. 

With a sense of awe he listened 
To the voices sweet and young, 

The last of earth and the first of heaven 
Seemed in the songs they sung. 

And waiting a little longer 

For the wonderful change to come, 

He heard the summoning angels 
Who calls God’s children home! 


32 


A TERM’S WORK ON LONGFELLOW. 


And to him, in a holier welcome, 

Was the mystical meaning given, 

Of the words of the Blessed Master, 

“Of such is the kingdom of Heaven.” 

— -f. G. Whittier. 


SUGGESTIONS FOR CONVERSATION AND 
COMPOSITION WORK. 

Who wrote this poem? To whom? Why does 
he call Longfellow’s home “the old historic man¬ 
sion”? What is the meaning of “kin”? “myriad”? 
What was “his own fair city”? “Golden Gate of 
sunset”? Why should the children of Maine 
wish especially to celebrate his birthday? How 
did it make him feel to know this? What where 
they singing? Of whom do we read who sent 
a bird which came back to him? Why should this 
seem like a farewell? 

What was “the wonderful change”? When did 
it come? 

Who said, “Of such is the kingdom of Heaven”? 
Of whom was he speaking? 


Lives of great men all remind us 
We can make our lives sublime, 

And departing, leave behind us 
Footprints in the sand of time. 

—Psalm of Life. 




NEW WORKS. 


Aunt Martha's Corner Cupboard. 

FINE SUPPLEMENTARY READING FOR FOURTH GRADE. 

Is a little volume of nearly 150 pages with beautiful half-tone illustra¬ 
tions of plantation life in the South, showing fields of cane in the process of 
cultivation, gathering the coffee bean, sowing the seeds of the tea-plant, 
and gathering the leaves for market, and many others. 

These stories are by “Aunt Martha ” to her bright children, about Tea, 
Coffee, Sugar, Rice, Salt, Currants, Grapes, and Honey; how each is grown 
or produced. 

Within the frame work of a simple domestic story that is very delight¬ 
ful to children is compressed an account of the production of tea, coffee, 
sugar, etc., making the story a very instructive one for children as well as 
one that wall fascinate them, and holds their attention to the end. 

The success of the English edition of this book and the great demand 
for a cheaper work, induced us to issue an American edition, using new type 
and new illustrations, and otherwise greatly improving the older work by a 
complete revision, making it vastly superior to the original, which was 
written years ago 144 pages. Price, paper, 25 cents; cloth, 40 cents. 


Pritchard's Choice Dialogues, No. 2. 

FOR FIFTH TO SEVENTH GRADES. 

The popularity of No 1 of this series is sufficient reason for issuing 
No. 2, which we believe is superior to any similar collection. These dia¬ 
logues are adapted for both school and church entertainments, and contain 
a large variety of original, humorous, pathetic, instructive, and moral as 
well as entertaining monologues, dialogues, and short dramas. The number 
of characters in each varies from one to twelve, and from the youngest to 
the oldest pupil in school will find in these two books a better collection 
of dialogues than can be found in any other publication. 

Partial table of contents: “The Voyage of Life,’’ “A Teetotaller’s 
Story,’’ “Rachel Gray,’’ “A Drunkard Reclaimed,” “The Modern vs. The 
Antique,” “ A Quiet Country Home,” “Slang,” “ The Poets of the District 
School,” “Who was the Head of the Family,” “The Grumblers at Home,” 
“ Aunt Penelope’s Ruse,” “Decoration Day,” “An Escapade;” this is excel¬ 
lent and worth the price of book alone. 

“DEMONS COMPARE METHODS" is novel and teaches a great lesson. 

These are but a few of the many selections—all original—in the work. 

Price, 128 pp. paper, 20 cents. 


A. FLANAGAN, Publisher, 267 Wabash Ave,, Chicago. 





LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 


Which To Bui 


Blocks With || 



0 018 597 893 P m 


Ethel Dana Constable. 


Love 

Truthfulness 


Cheerfulness 

Honesty 


Good Will 
Purity 


There is always a demand for short stories, and if they 
are told in a simple chaste manner from subjects that are 
elevating and ennobling, the child who reads and tries to 
emulate the life and character of the little men and women 
whom the author has so interestingly told us about in 
“Blocks With Which To Build,” will become a good and 
useful citizen. 

The stories, as the title of the book would indicate, have 
been written with a view to character building, teaching that 
truth, honesty, reliability and moral character are to be de¬ 
sired far more than riches and high positions, for, without the 
former, one seldom ever attains the latter. 

Among the stories so interestingly told and so hand¬ 
somely illustrated in this little volume may be mentioned, 
“The Enchanted Island,” “The Model Picture,” “The Price¬ 
less Picture,” “Life’s Garden,” “Our Fortress,’’ “A Pro¬ 
cession,” “The Mysterious Cave,” “The Magic Spectacles,” 
“The Rainbow Myth,” “The Web We Weave,” “A Thought,” 
“Our Companion,” “We Build the Ladder By Which We 
Rise,” and “The Wonderful Magnet.” Contains 107 pages 
with six full page half-tone illustrations. Price, 20 cents in 
paper; cloth, 30 cents. 


A. FLANAGAN, 


CHICAGO. 





